It is 2:00am and I am up because I fell asleep in my chair nursing the twins. Instead of going straight to bed like a normal person I like to use this time to myself for a few moments. I am up already....... and I am almost guaranteed not to be interupted.

First, I am pleased to announce that after almost 3 months of pestering the government we did get our Bituach Leumi! Hurray! This is our baby money. Our doctor is also very happy because it means he gets a sizeable down payment for his services now. In Israel every person is required to have health insurance. Because we are on a Socialized Medical system it is pretty cheap. Until you stray.....If we had gone through with the C-Section and been in the hospital the whole thing would have been paid for through insurance. Instead we opted to go with a private doctor and have the twins at home. This means it all came out of pocket at a high price. But, the health advantages were well worth the cost. In some circumstances a C-Section is necessary, in my circumstance we did not agree. We have had all 3 kids at home and it is always worth it. I like being in my own bed, eating my own food and having my privacy. The other advantage was that I was not away from my oldest son. We have never been apart for more than 24 hours and 5 days apart would have turned him upside down. It is a bit of a bummer to see all this money come in and know that had we gone traditional we would be ahead now instead of just floating, but in the end it is worth it. And considering most people who do home birth never get the Bituach Leumi, I am not complaining.

I would also like to thank everyone for their encouragement on keeping up this blog. I am not sure what I have to say is interesting to anyone else, so I am glad some people are enjoying it. I guess that is the great thing about free will, if someone finds it boring, they don't have to read it. And I am not even spamming their inbox!

Today was a big day, I actually took all three kids to play at a friend's house to play. It was either that or S and I were going to go nuts! This may not seem like a big deal to someone with one kid, but gathering up 2 non-walkers and a 2 year old is work. Getting diapers, everyone dressed, fed and down the stairs, yes, as usual we live in an upstairs apt. But I don't mind, it tends to prevent most of the creepy crawlies from getting in! Anyhow, doing all of this is a lot of work, so I was very happy to be out today. It was a hot walk, but worth it and nice for S to do something besides hang at home and watch movies.

I have found that having twins now has made me compromise a lot on my idea of ideal child raising. The moment I got pregnant, so many things went out the window I lost count. First as a family we spent so much time being sick this winter that we were all miserable, then being pregnant on top did not help. So....out came the videos, then dinner started resemble lunch a lot. Hard boiled eggs, toast and juice is a complete breakfast, right?!......And so it goes. I don't really like the fact that S has learned to appreciate the fine art of parking his tush to watch more than one movie a day, but I keep promising myself, it is just for a little while. 'Till mommy can manage all three kids at once....Oh in about 18 years! Just kidding. This fall S will be back in Gan (pre-school) and that will keep him busy from 8-1:30p, home for lunch, a nap if I am lucky, some play dates and dinner and bed. So there should not be some much need for a movie. Although in the winter when it is pouring buckets, there is not much else to do. Although I am hoping to get him into Piano lessons or start teaching him myself. This will also fill in sometime.

OK I must be boring everyone and this is getting long because it is 3:00am now and my thoughts are all over the place.

May everyone have a peaceful and quiet night/day where ever you are and pray for the continued peace and safety of Israel.

OK I am really trying to make an effort to keep up on this blog; so instead of doing dishes and laundry.....I am updating my blog. Right now I have a twin sleeping, one on the couch and the oldest is watching The Simpons with his abba(father).

The war is officialy over and our friends C&N went home today. Of course there is a lot of mixed feeling on this. I am glad that war is over so that everyone can quit worrying about us, but as with most of Israel, I feel that what we needed to do, did not get done. Our soldiers were not released and most of us still feel a real threat from Hizbollah. It is also a worry to have the U.N. offering to put troops on the border considering U.N. is comprised of some very vocal arab countries who would like us gone and by European countries who feel Hitler should have finished the job. Not very reassuring! France offered up troops, but the anti-semitisim in France is heating so a very scary prospect. And of course now they say it will take a year to get troops in place.....Hmmmm...I feel like they are ready to help don't you?

Life on the home front is pretty quiet as usual. Well how exciting can things be when we have to shlep 3 kids every where we go! We tend to spend a lot of time at home. Since we have no car getting off the Yeshuv is a lot of work. However, we did go to Bituach Leumi today. This is a government branch that handles child stipends. One of the great things about Israel is that they actually give you money for having kids. One kid is not that much, 2 kids is not much more, but having twins really changes things. They give you a monthly stipend and a lump sum just for having them. So for the past 2mo. they have been promising our stipend, but to no avail. Now they say we will have it tomorrow. Sure hope so! And so goes a typical day in government beuracracy! Just so you know, I think government beuracracy in the states is just as nutty and un-reliable! Any way, so that was our big outing today.

We are still waging the potty training war and we are slowly winning, I think. Can anyone really be sure with a 2 &1/2 year old? Any potty training suggestions for little boys is welcome! We are open to any and all suggestions. Today I gave him raisins to eat while he was on the potty. That got him to sit.

I had a really rewarding moment as a parent the other day though. S (my 2&1/2 yr. old) sat on my lap and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song with me. It was really cute.

The Twins are cute as ever and growing fast. I love to see them laugh and smile. Y (my boy) really likes to laugh and giggle. M (my girl) is deffinitely all girl.

OK the natives are restless and house work is calling. We are going to put in The Bear in the Big Blue House Potty Training Video. Ahhh the thrill of parenting. My TV viewing has changed drastically.

Have a good day/evening where ever you are!

The time between posts seems to be getting longer and longer but this is what happens with 3 kids in the house under age 3. On May 22nd we had 2 healthy twins born at home. Yoseph Eitan and Malka Haddasah. We opted for home delivery when the Dr. wanted to do a C-section because they were breach. So we found a specialist who would deliver at home.

A lot has been going on in the past 2&1/2 mo. both at home and in our country. There is a war going on now and it is a bit surreal. We have friends C & N from Tzsfat who have been out of their house for 5 weeks now. We were able to find them an apt. here to stay in. This is a real blessing because they have their own place. Many people are in hotels or staying with families with 9 people and one bathroom. Others are staying in Yeshivha Dorms at 100 shekels a night. That is about 20 dollars a day! It was great to have C & N here because they had their baby in our house! This was also a planned home delivery and we offered our house because we have had all our kids at home. The community has been a huge help and was great with the Brit. In our community over all it has been volunteer central. People supply food, games, toys, etc. for those displaced. I know we are doing our effort by having our friends almost every shabbat and hosting them for about 2 weeks before they found their place. But I wish I could do more. I want to take the kids up and go visit the families staying in the dorms here. It is odd seeing what is going on up North because physicaly as far as resources, etc. we are unaffected. We are in our homes, no sirens or bombs, no lack of food, phones, etc. What makes it real is the fact that many families are here from the North and the fact that we have many men and boys off fighting the war. One family lost their son in battle over shabbat.

But on to other wars. I must sign off to go battle my 2 & 1/2 year old who thinks it is great fun to slam into me while I am typing. And Malki is crying now and it is off to battle another day!